Trayce Thompson – Steal of the Deal

Phil Gurnee ♦ June 8, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

With Andre hurt, Puig struggling, and Crawford now gone, it is a good thing the Dodgers pulled the trigger on the three-way trade that brought Thompson to the Dodgers. Frankie Montas was supposed to be the key to this deal and may still be, but right now Thompson has been the steal of the deal.  Given how moribund the Dodger offense has been, I can’t imagine what it would be without Trayce Thompson.

Cory Seager is getting most of the press for good reason, but his roommate Trayce Thompson is actually doing better work. Cory has all the home runs and a glittering OPS of .872 but Thompson has an OPS of .922 and it is Thompson who sits on the top of the NL Rookie OPS+ leaderboard.

Last night Thompson hit his second walk off of the year, but more surprisingly he hit it against a right hand pitcher. Coming into 2016 Thompson had shown the ability with the White Sox to hit left hand pitching but it was up in the air if he could hit right hand pitching well enough to be considered a full-time outfielder.  It is still early but Thompson is putting the big hurt on RHP so far in 2016.  In fact as of this moment Thompson has a consistent split against both RHP/LHP .

When I visited the Dodgers this spring, I mentioned on TBLA that Thompson was the best athlete I saw at camp. I think the only thing anyone can be disappointed about with Thompson is his less than stellar defense. He had a reputation as an above average outfielder, but with the eyes he seems average at best. Doesn’t get great jumps and his instincts seem a bit off.  But that is being trite.

Thompson has been great, so great I had to create a little National League Rookie leaderboard for him just to show how great.

Rookie NL Players with at least 100 at bats: